Slatington Area Man To Be Cited In Animal Cruelty Police

April 11, 1986|The Morning Call

A Slatington R.2 man has been cited with four counts of cruelty to animals for keeping pigs at his Washington Township farm in "deplorable" conditions, said Robert Manlin, cruelty investigator for the Lehigh County Humane Society.

Manlin said he was called to the farm by state police at Bethlehem, who had gone there after neighbors had complained about a dump site on the property.

He found 25 to 30 pigs, some sick, plus six dead ones decomposing in a pen. Manure in the pen was nearly a foot deep, he said.

"The water that one pig was drinking was green stagnant slime," said Manlin. "The shelter was improper and insufficient: some cages with boards over, some truck cabs.

"There were barrels that appeared to be filled with some kind of food," said Manlin, but it was infested with maggots.

"There was no evidence of food or water being provided for some time," said Janet Chardavoyne, Humane Society shelter manager. "There was a steer on the farm," she added, "but it had shelter and there was evidence of food and water."

A Humane Society spokeswoman said the pigs were not removed from the farm, but that arrangements had been made for their care.

Manlin said that state police would continue to investigate the dump site.

Neighbors, he said, told them the situation had been going on for quite some time.

Manlin said Ziegler told him the pigs were a side business for him, but that he works from 5 a.m. until midnight and has no time to take care of them. "I said if you have animals it is your obligation to take care of them," said Manlin.